Matildas Olympic fate officially sealed after VAR controversy

The Matildas fate at the Paris Games has been officially sealed after controversy erupted during their final group game against America.

Don’t dream Australia, it’s officially over.

The Matildas hopes of advancing into the knockout stages at the Paris Olympics were crushed on Thursday (AEST).

Entering their final group game against the USA, the Aussies only needed a draw to secure a spot outside of the group stage.

But it wasn’t to be as America took the chocolates behind a 2-1 win, leaving the Aussies praying results would go their win in the final Group A games.

The Matildas desperately needed Colombia to draw with or defeat Canada if their dream was to remain alive.

After more than an hour of what was an arm wrestle contest, Canada found the back of the net and that was all she wrote.

The elimination is the earliest for the Matildas since they made their debut way back in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics.

The Matildas are packing their bags. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

The day wasn’t without controversy as the Matildas were on the receiving end of a questionable moment against America.

As the Matildas parked the bus and looked to be playing for the draw, it all fell apart in the final minutes before the halftime whistle had blown for the Matildas.

After failing to clear the ball from the box, Trinity Rodman poked the ball home at the back post to hand America the 1-0 advantage.

Then all hell broke loose.

Gustavsson was left seeing red as he roared at the referee to review the goal as his players also threw up their hands in protest.

The outrage from the Matildas coach ended with him being flashed a yellow card, but in the end he got his wish.

Referee Francois Letexier marched towards the sidelines as she stood in front of the VAR system.

As replays rolled it appeared Mackenzie Arnold had her line of sight tampered with by an offside player, but after a lengthy delay that saw Letexier throw on a headset and speak to a mysterious official, the goal was given the green light.

The official determined there was no impeding

The VAR wasn’t having a good time.

Despite being behind on the scoreline, Gustavsson elected not to change up the Matildas game plan of defending like their lives depended on it.

With attacking charges from the Aussies being rarer than a lunar eclipse, the Americans took advantage.

After several attempts were batted away by Mackenzie Arnold, it was Korbin Albert who eventually doubled the advantage for the Americans.

A stunning strike from outside the penalty box sailed through the air, past the outstretched hand of Arnold before it nestled into the top corner of the net.

With the clock closing in on the final minutes, the Matildas finally released the handbrake and started making moves in their own half.

And with only their second shot on goal for the entire contest, Alanna Kennedy found the back of the net.

It hasn’t been a great campaign. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

The Matildas had a pulse and less than a minute later they almost tied it up after a brilliant cross from Ellie Carpenter flashed across the box coming just a fraction away from Kennedy’s head.

In the end however time ran out on the Matildas.

“It’s a tough one to take for us. We left it all out there,” Hayley Raso said on Channel 9.

“There’s still a little bit of hope so we’ll go back and follow the result of the next game closely and go from there.”

Clare Wheeler said: “You can tell we’re all devastated.

“It’s going to be one of those games we wish we could have again … we can only hope.”

Wheeler added a message to the Matildas fans: “We’re sorry we couldn’t get the job done today.”

Coach Tony Gustavsson said: “I said to the players in the circle that they should be extremely proud of the performance. They stuck to the game plan … We were playing one of the most in-form teams of the tournament.”

Originally published as Matildas Olympic fate officially sealed after VAR controversy